Gregory Bieler
Gregory Hugh Bieler (born May 9th, 2421) was the 14th Supreme President of the Federal Republic of Solentia and the 9th Federal Independent Party member to be elected to the executive office. Gregory Bieler is one of the longest serving Supreme Presidents in the Federal Republic's history and debatably one of the most influential Supreme Presidents in the nation's existance. He was elected October 7th, 2459 and re-elected three times after, opting not to serve a fifth term out of respect for the first executive in the Federal Republic's history, Father George Bailen. His fourth term ended on November 7th 2471, drawing a close to his twelve year reign. Early Life Gregory Bieler was born in Rhegium, Fuwan. He was adopted by Senator and future Supreme President Hugh Bieler. He attended Rhegium State University and studied law along with political science. As a young student, he deeply enjoyed history, politics, and government studies. Career in Politics State Politics By the age of 26, Bieler had decided that he would give public service a shot, as he was determined to serve a seat in his native Fuwan. He promised himself that if he could not win his first race, he would attempt public service later on in his life and instead practice law in the meantime. This prompted his run for Rhegium City Council in 2447. A life-long Federal Independent, he ran under his family party's banner. Fuwan being a strongly Federal Independent state and Rhegium being a stronghold for Federal Independent votes, he won easily. Alongside a majority of citizens who shared the same party as he did, his father had nearly finished serving a term as Supreme President. This boosted his popularity and gave him national attention (as Hugh Bieler was a popular Supreme President). Gregory Bieler ended up winning the election in a landslide with a remarkable 83% of the vote. Rhegium City Council Term Elected on October 7th, 2447, Bieler took office on November 7th that year. He immediately began work by introducing serveral series of legislation to help revitalize the ailing city which had seen a consistent drop in economy and infrastructure over the past seven years. A steadfast progressive liberal, who many called a socialist, Bieler refused to cut programs such as city housing, municipal services including water, electricity, and many more city provided programs. However, he realized that the city was dangerously approaching default and that such an event would seriously tarnish both the city's reputation and his party's reputation. He pushed for a series of tax increases he devised to help buffer the ailing city budget. He also prompted more funds be given to the failing city run Rhegium Municipal Steel. The company had seen a depressing downturn of profit due to increasingly aggressive competition which had secured the backing of many newly elected councilmen. As he continued to push his agenda forward, he gained many allies and numerous enemies. At a point during his term in 2448, the Rhegium City Council split into three coalitions over a fierce debate whether to strengthen Rhegium Municipal Steel or sell it to competition. Bieler led a group known as the "City Democrats", which supported keeping RMS alive and to continue city funds for the company's growth. He was opposed by John Thereck, who led the counter group dubbed the "Civic Free Men". The third (and smallest coalition) was called the "Moderates" and was formed by all councilmen that wished for an inbetween choice rather than an either/or one. The three groups remained in a deadlock from March 2448 through June 2448. During this period all three groups used tactics such as filibuster to weaken support from other coalitions. One tactic used by the Moderates was to appeal to the public, stating that both the City Democrats and the Civic Free Men were halting city progress in a time needy for action and bipartisan legislation. However, due to the City Democrats' large support from unions who relied upon the city controlled steel for fair and profitable deals, this tactic failed miserably. Alongside steelworkers' unions, automotive unions, and construction unions was every other union which threatened to go on strike since national law deemed any union may go on secondary strike. After nearly four months of deadlocked debate and literally nothing accomplished, the council finally held a vote. Throughout this time Bieler had been courting several leftists who had joined the Moderates to protect their image from being compared to socialists, which the Civic Free Men had portrayed the City Democrats as. He was successful in drawing these members over to his coalition, which weakened the Civic Free Men and gave him enough votes to win a majority. The council held a vote in late June over whether to keep or sell RMS which resulted in a 26 - 20 - 4 vote, effectively strengthening Rhegium Municipal Steel. This came as a stinging blow to members of the Civic Free Men and those belonging to the Moderates who failed to vote in the affirmative. This incident brought Bieler statewide acknowledgement and enormous popularity from unions and traditionalists in Rhegium. From that point on, Bieler won every union's support when he sought its endorsement. After another year of intense politics, he decided to throw in his hat for the Rhegium mayoralty. Rhegium Mayoral Election After a very involved and eventful term as City Councilman, Bieler decided to make a bid for the Rhegium Mayoralty. The crowd of candidates for the particular year was impressive: a total of 31 candidates ran for the covetted seat. Rhegium, a stronghold for Federal Independents, a booming and popular city despite hard occurances at the time, and center of political organization, was an attraction for lesser known candidates and veteran politicians alike. Bieler himself stated the race was going to be anything but easy, but he was determined to win over the city and set his liberal agenda at the helm of Rhegium politics. The 21 candidates were divided into several categories. Fifteen of the 21 were registered Federal Independents who were running for their party's nomination, seven were from the Federal Independent Party's opposition, the City Publican Party, five were part of the newly formed Civic Free Men Party which branched off from the CPP which members felt was now a defunct party unable to challenge the FIP, and the remaining four were from independent parties. In the Federal Independent Party, Bieler was able to use his history as a union representative and leader to gain many powerful endorsements. Also, he was backed by several liberal law firms along with the Rhegium Civil Liberties Union. These endorsements, and the money that came with them, proved to be crucial. Despite several well-known and popular Federal Independents vying for the party nomination, Bieler ended up winning the party primary with a clear 42% of the vote out of the 15 running. His challengers were Seth McKarra from the City Publican Party, Jim Mellur from the Civic Free Men Party, Claire Herris as an independent, and Frank Chalish as an independent. During the race for mayoralty, four debates were held. The first debate ended up in a victory for Bieler, who was widely regarded for blowing away the other candidates. The second debate showed no clear winner, though several commentators leaned towards Bieler more than anyone. The third debate was anything but politically correct, with all candidates except for Frank Chalish seen utilizing smear campaign. During the debate, Bieler was noted to say "It would seem the Civic Free Men and the City Publicans are the greedy capitalists in this fight. Not only are they the proponents of raping our economic stability in Rhegium, they go against all tradition and destroy everything progressive this city stands for. They are the sickening force in this city that prevents the city from rising to the very top it could very well reach. The slime on the streets, the ghettoes that pop up, and the crime that surges is all the outcome of their rich, elitist, disgusting politics." While this may seem harsh, other regards from candidates were worse. "The Federal Independents only care about the aborting of babies, mandating euthanizations for old, taxing you to death, and enslaving you all to the government. This society has been aborted under liberal scum like Gregory Bieler who will turn Rhegium into a prostitute's heaven. The whores can't take this city from us, they can't turn it into a concentration camp for endless sex, drugs, crime, and morally wrong activity. Let's take this fight right to them and vote them out of this city to save us all." stated Civic Free Men Party nominee Jim Mellur. Other notable quotes from the debate are widely referenced in today's politics as a way to hopefully prevent such instances. During the fourth and last debate, Bieler was widely considered to win. However, several comentators decided that Frank Chalish, was an equal contender. On election day, October 7th, 2449, turn out was magnificent. Ninety-four percent of eligible voters voted, around 1,880,000 citizens in the city which consisted of 2,457,000 (according to the government estimate). Bieler took 54% of the vote, followed by Frank Chalish who grabbed 22%, then Jim Mellur with 11%, Seth McKarra a distant 8%, and finally Claire Herris with a dismal 5%. Rhegium Mayoralty After winning in a landslide over his opponents in the 2449 Rhegium Mayor election, Gregory Bieler set to work immediately. The previous mayor, Dick Coburn (son of former mayor Richard Coburn who was kicked out of office for having an affair with another man) had low approval ratings and seemed to care very little about the City Council and the city itself. Due to this inactivity, he was able to set aside several bills that he literally ignored. This prevented passage without his signature as he allowed the legislation to die, effectively vetoing it. With a viciously partisan city council, nothing could manage to gain the two-thirds necessary to override the veto. After Federal Independents pushed through several bills, such as legislation to increse funding dramatically for police, public housing, water, electricity, Rhegium Municipal Steel, Rhegium City Stadium, the "Flats" district, the entertainment districts, public arts, and much more. As mayor, Bieler signed all of them.